Even the most remote deep-sea ecosystems are affected by climate
change according to a study conducted by the National Oceanography Centre at
the University of Southampton, UK. According to the study, seafloor dwellers
will decline by up to 38% in the North Atlantic and over 5% globally over the
next century because of a reduction in the oceanâ€™s surface plants and animals.

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The international research team, using advanced climate models, is
quantifying future losses in deep-sea marine life.

These results are based upon the use of climate models that quantify
losses allowing researchers to predict changes in the ocean's food supply
globally. By applying a relationship between food supply and the calculated biomass
of the global database of marine life, accurate predictions are determined. The
results are published this week in the scientific journal Global Change
Biology.

Despite living on average four kilometers under the surface of the
ocean, seafloor communities are expected to see radical changes. Researchers
have gone backwards in the process by first predicting that nutrient supplies
will suffer because of climate impacts of things like the slowing of the global
ocean circulation, increased separation of water masses, known as 'stratification', due to the warmer, rainier weather. Surface plants and
animals whose remains would have become sustenance for the deep-sea life will
also decline making food scarce for all deep-sea life.

Lead author Dr. Daniel Jones says: "There has been some
speculation about climate change impacts on the seafloor, but we wanted to try
and make numerical projections for these changes and estimate specifically
where they would occur. We were expecting some negative changes around the world, but
the extent of changes, particularly in the North Atlantic, were staggering.
Globally we are talking about losses of marine life weighing more than every
person on the planet put together."

The projected changes in marine life are not consistent across the
world, but most areas will experience negative change. Over 80% of all
identified key habitats, such as cold-water coral reefs, seamounts and canyons,
will suffer losses in total biomass. The analysis also predicts that animals
will get smaller. Smaller animals tend to use energy less efficiently, thereby
impacting seabed fisheries and exacerbating the effects of the overall declines
in available food.